Tuscaloosa is the regional center of industry, commerce,
healthcare, and education for West Alabama. Tuscaloosa is also the
home of the University of Alabama. While the
city attracted international attention when Mercedes-Benz
announced it would build its first automotive assembly plant in
North America in Tuscaloosa County, the university remains the
dominant economic and cultural engine in the city.

History

The area at the Fall Line shoals of what would later be
known as the Black Warrior River had long been
well known to the various Indiantribes whose shifting fortunes
brought them to West Alabama. The river shoals at Tuscaloosa
represented the southernmost site on the river which could be
forded under most conditions. A network of Indian trails converged
upon the place, the same network that, in the first years of the
19th century, was followed by a few intrepid white frontiersmen to
the area.

The pace of white settlement increased greatly after the War of 1812. A small
assortment of log cabins soon arose near the large Creek village at the fall line of the
river, which the new settlers named in honor of the legendary Chief
Tuskaloosa of a Muskogean-speaking tribe. In 1817,
Alabama became a territory,
and on December 13, 1819, the territorial legislature incorporated
the town of Tuscaloosa, one day before Congress admitted Alabama to the
Union as a state.

From 1826 to 1846, Tuscaloosa was the capital of
Alabama. During this period, in 1831, the University of Alabama was
established. The town's population and economy grew rapidly until
the departure of the capital to Montgomery caused a rapid decline
in population. Establishment of the Bryce State Hospital for the
Insane in Tuscaloosa in the 1850s helped restore the city's
fortunes.

During the Civil War following Alabama's secession from the Union,
several thousand men from Tuscaloosa fought in the Confederate armies.
During the last weeks of the War, a brigade of Union troops raiding
the city burned the campus of the university. The larger town was
also damaged in the battle and shared fully in the South's economic
sufferings which followed the defeat.

In the 1890s the construction of a system of locks and dams on
the Black Warrior River by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers opened up an inexpensive link to the Gulf
seaport of Mobile, stimulating especially the
mining and metallurgical industries of the region. By the advent of
the 20th century, the growth of the University
of Alabama and the mental health-care facilities in the city, along
with a strong national economy fueled a steady growth in Tuscaloosa
which continued unabated for 100 years. Manufacturing plants of
large firms such as Michelin and JVC located in town during the latter half of the
20th century. However, it was the announcement of the addition of
the Mercedes
facility in 1993 that best personified the new era of economic
prosperity for Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa is known as the "Druid City" because of the numerous
Water
oaks planted in its downtown streets since the 1840s.[4]

Geography
and climate

According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, Tuscaloosa has a total area of 66.7 square miles
(172.8 km²), of which, 56.2 square miles
(145.7 km²) of it is land and 10.5 square miles
(27.1 km²) of it (15.68%) is water. Most of water within the
city limits is in Lake Tuscaloosa, which is entirely in the city
limits, and the Black Warrior River.

Tuscaloosa is situated on the Black Warrior River approximately
60 miles southwest of Birmingham. The city occupies a
unique location of fall
line of the Black Warrior River on the boundary between the
Appalachian Highland and the Gulf Coastal Plain approximately
311 km (120 mi.) upriver from the river's confluence with
the Tombigbee
River in Demopolis. Consequently, the
geography of the area around Tuscaloosa is quite diverse, being
hilly and forested to the northeast and low-lying and marshy to the
southwest.

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Climate

A rare snowstorm paints a winter scene near Lake Tuscaloosa.

The area experiences a typical Southern subtropical climate with four distinct
seasons. The Gulf
of Mexico heavily influences the climate by supplying the
region with warm, moist air. During the fall, winter, and spring seasons, the
interaction of this warm, moist air with cooler, drier air from the
North along fronts create precipitation. These fronts
usually move from west to east as they track along the jet stream. Notable
exceptions occur during hurricane season where storms may move
from due south to due north or even from east to west during
land-falling hurricanes. The interaction between low-
and high-pressure air masses is most pronounced during the severe weather
seasons in the spring and fall. During the summer, the jet streams
flows well to the north of the southeastern U.S., and most
precipitation is consequently convectional, that is,
caused by the warm surface heating the air above. Severe thunderstorms can
bring damaging winds, large hail
and occasionally tornadoes.
A destructive F4 tornado struck
Tuscaloosa County in December 2000, killing eleven people.
Tuscaloosa City was struck by an F2 Tornado in January 1997 which
resulted in the death of one person.

Winter lasts from mid-December to late-February; temperatures
range from the mid-20s to the mid-50s. On average, the low
temperature falls at freezing or below about 50 days a year. While
rain is abundant (an average 5.09 in. per month from Dec.-Feb.),
measurable snowfall is rare; the average annual snowfall is about
0.6 inches. Spring usually lasts from late-February to
mid-May; temperatures range from the mid-50s to the low-80s and
monthly rainfall amounts average about 5.05 in. (128 mm) per
month. Summers last from mid-May to mid-September; temperatures
range from the upper-60s to the mid-90s, with temperatures above
100°F (37.8°C) not uncommon, and average rainfall dip slightly to
3.97 in. (101 mm) per month. Autumn, which spans from
mid-September to early-December, tends to be similar to Spring
terms of temperature and precipitation.[6]

The highest temperature to have been recorded at the Tuscaloosa
Regional Airport was 107.0°F (41.7°C) on July 29, 1952 & August
10, 2007, while the lowest recorded temperature was -1.0°F
(-18.3°C) on January 21, 1985.[7]

There were 31,381 households out of which 23.9% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living
together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present,
and 46.0% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up
of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years
of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the
average family size was 2.93.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.8% under the
age of 18, 24.5% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45
to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,731, and
the median income for a family was $41,753. Males had a median
income of $31,614 versus $24,507 for females. The per capita
income for the city was $19,129. About 14.2% of families and
23.6% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 25.3% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or
over.

Government

Tuscaloosa has a strong-mayor variant mayor-council form of government, led by a
mayor and a seven-member city council. The
mayor and council members are elected concurrently for four-year
terms. The mayor is elected by the city at-large while council
members are elected to single-member districts. Neither the mayor
nor the members of the city council is term-limited. All elected
offices are nonpartisan. Elections take place on the fourth Tuesday
of August in years following presidential election years, with
run-off elections taking place six weeks later if necessary. Terms
begin immediately after election. The most recent municipal
elections were held in 2009.

Current City Council Members

District

Representative

Serving Since

1

Bobby E. Howard

2005

2

Harrison Taylor

1993

3

Cynthia Lee Almond

2005

4

Lee Garrison

1997

5

Kip Tyner

1997

6

Bob Lundell

2005

7

William Tinker, III

2005

The mayor is the chief executive and administrative officer of
the city. His main duty is to oversee the day-to-day operation of
city departments pursuant to executing policy enacted by the city
council or, in the absence of any council policy, his own
discretion. His other duties include preparing an operating budget
each year for approval by the city council and acting as ambassador
of the city. The mayor also presides over city council meetings but
votes only in case of ties. The current Mayor of Tuscaloosa is
Walter Maddox, who was elected to office in September 2005. Prior
to Maddox, Alvin A. DuPont had served as mayor for 24 years.

The city council act as the legislative body of the city. It is
powered by state law to consider policy and enact law and to make
appoints to city boards. The council also considers the budget
proposed by the mayor for approval. The majority of work in the
council is done by committee. These committees usually consisting
three council members, one of whom will be chairman, and relevant
non-voting city employees.

Tuscaloosa County courthouse in downtown Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa, as the largest county seat in western Alabama,
serves a hub of state and federal government agencies. In addition
to the customary offices associated with the county courthouse,
namely two District Court Judges, six Circuit Court Judges, the District Attorney and the Public Defender, several Alabama state
government agencies have regional offices in Tuscaloosa, such as
the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama State
Troopers (the state police).

Tuscaloosa is located partially in both the 6th and 7th
Congressional Districts, which are represented by Spencer Bachus
(R) and Artur Davis (D), respectively. In
addition, Alabama's senior senator, Richard Shelby (R), is a resident of
Tuscaloosa.

On the state level, the city is split among the 5th, 21st, and
24th Senate districts and 62nd, 63rd, and 70th House districts in
the Alabama State Legislature.

Economy

Despite its image as a college town, Tuscaloosa boasts a
diversified economy based on all sectors of manufacturing and
service. Twenty-five percent of the labor force in the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan
Statistical Area is employed by the federal, state, and local
government agencies. 16.7% is employed in manufacturing; 16.4% in
retail trade and transportation; 11.6% in finance, information, and
private enterprise; 10.3% in mining and construction; and 9.2% in
hospitality. Education and healthcare account for only 7.2% of the
area workforce with the remainder employed in other services.[9]

Tuscaloosa was ranked in the November 2009 issue of Fortune Small Business as one of
the "50 Best Places to Launch a Small Business" (ranked #11 among
metro areas with populations of 250,000 or less).[10]

Another significant contributor to the manufacturing segment of
the city's economy is the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International assembly
plant located on a site in Tuscaloosa County located near Vance
approximately 20 miles east of downtown. The plant began assembling
the Mercedes-Benz M-Class in 1997 and the R-ClassGrand Sport Tourer in
2005 and just recently began production with the GL-Class. Plants that supply
components to Mercedes-Benz also make their home in Tuscaloosa and
add to the economic strength of the city.

The Westervelt Company, a land resources and wildlife management
company has its headquarters in Tuscaloosa. The company was
formerly the Gulf State Paper Corporation, with headquarters in
Tuscaloosa from 1927 until 2005 when it sold its pulp and
paperboard operations to the Rock-Tenn Company
of Norcross,
Georgia. Gulf States then restructured to form Westervelt.

Health-care and education serve as the cornerstone of
Tuscaloosa's service sector, which includes the University of Alabama, DCH
Regional Medical Center, Bryce Hospital, the William D. Partlow
Developmental Center, and the Tuscaloosa VA Medical
Center.

Retail

University Mall and Midtown Village, which are located along
McFarland Boulevard, anchor the core retail area of the city. Other
retail properties in this area include McFarland Plaza (formerly
known as Bama Mall), an open-air mall anchored by Stein Mart and Toys R
Us, and many other free standing store and restaurant, most
notably SuperTarget and Home Depot, which are
located on former east campus of the Shelton State Community
College.

As in many cities across the US, the downtown area used to be
the main retail area of Tuscaloosa until the opening of McFarland
and University malls in what was then the suburbs. While efforts to
restore the entertainment and cultural offerings in downtown in
recent years have paid off dividends, a revival of the retail
offering has been less successful.

Education

Education is a vital component of the city as Tuscaloosa is home
to several colleges and schools. The University of Alabama is the
dominant institution of higher learning. Enrolling approximately
27,000 students, UA has been a part of Tuscaloosa's identity since
it opened its doors in 1831. Stillman College, which opened in
1875, is a historically Blackliberal
arts college that has approximately 1,200 students.

Additionally, Shelton State Community
College, one of the largest in Alabama, is located in the city.
The school enrolls around 8,000 students from all backgrounds and
income levels. The majority of Shelton State students are
"traditional" students. They are usually either first-time college
students earning associate degrees for transfer to four-year
institutions after graduation, or UA and Stillman students enrolled
in entry-level classes that they cannot or do not want to take at
their home institutions.

The Tuscaloosa City School System serves the
city. It is overseen by the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education,
which is composed of eight members elected by district and a
chairman elected by a citywide vote. The Board appoints a
Superintendent to manage the day-to-day operations of the system.
Operating with a $100 million budget, the system enrolls
approximately 10,300 students. The system consists of 19 schools:
12 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 3 high schools (Paul W. Bryant High School,
Central High
School and Northridge High
School), and 2 specialty schools (the Tuscaloosa Center for
Technology, a vocational school, and Oak Hill
School for special needs students). In 2002, the system spent
$6,313 per pupil, the 19th highest amount of the 120 school systems
in the state.[11]

Since 1923, the state-run William D. Partlow Developmental
Center has served the mentally
retarded, offering these citizens a public education as well as
seeing to their other needs.

Culture
and Recreation

Tuscaloosa is home to a variety of cultural sites and events
reflective of its historical and modern role in Alabama and the
Southeast in general. Many of these cultural events are sponsored
by the University of Alabama. Numerous performing arts groups and
facilities, historical sites, and museums dedicated to subjects as
varying as American art and collegiate football dot the city.

Libraries
and museums

Tuscaloosa Public Library main branch on Jack Warner Parkway

The Tuscaloosa Public Library is
a joint city-county agency with nearly 200,000 items on catalog. A
total of 46,857 registered patrons use the library on a regular
basis — roughly 28% of the population of the county. There are
currently two branches in the city, the Main branch on Jack Warner
Parkway and the Weaver-Bolden branch in western Tuscaloosa, and a
third branch in suburban Taylorville (Brown branch).

Additionally, the University of Alabama, Stillman College and
Shelton State Community College have campus libraries that are open
for use to the public.

Performing
arts

Numerous performing arts organizations are active in the
Tuscaloosa area. The Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa
County is an association of various performing arts organizations
in the Tuscaloosa area. Many are affiliated with UA or Shelton
State Community college, but several are independent organizations.
A few of the performing arts groups active in Tuscaloosa include (a
full list of Arts Council members can be found here):

String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa

Theatre Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa Winds

Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre

Prentice Concert Chorale (formerly Tuscaloosa Community
Singers)

Dance Alabama!

Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre

UA Theatre and Dance

UA Opera Theatre

The Tuscaloosa Symphony
Orchestra, which had its twenty-fifth season in 2006-2007, is
based at the Moody Music Building. Korean maestro Shinik Hahm has
been music director since the 2001-2002 season, but will step down
at end of the 2009-2010 season.

Facilities

The Frank Moody Music Building on the UA campus holds a
1000-seat Concert Hall and a 140-seat Recital Hall. The Concert
Hall features a three-story-tall, 5,000-pipe Holtkamp organ. The
Recital Hall features a Schlicker organ. Also on the UA campus,
Rowand-Johnson Hall, holds the Marian Gallaway Theatre, a 305-seat
proscenium theater and
the Allen Bales Theatre, a 170-seat thrust theatre.
Finally, Morgan Hall features a 600-seat auditorium.

The Sandra Hall-Ray Fine Arts Centre on the Shelton State campus
holds the Bean-Brown Theatre, a 450-seat proscenium theater, and
the 100-seat Alabama Power Foundation Recital Hall.

the Bama Theatre

The Bama
Theatre is a 1094-seat proscenium theater located in downtown
Tuscaloosa and is operated by The Arts and Humanities Council.[12] The
Bama Theatre was built between 1937 and 1938 under the New Deal-era Public Works Administration
as a movie palace.
At the time of its construction in 1938, it was the only
air-conditioned building in Tuscaloosa. The theatre was renovated
as a performing arts center in 1976 and housed the Tuscaloosa
Symphony Orchestra and Theatre Tuscaloosa troupe until those groups
moved into their own facilities.

Today, the Bama Theatre is the residence of the Tuscaloosa
Children's Theatre Company and the Tuscaloosa Community
Dancers.[13]
Additionally, its hosts the Arts Council's Cinema Nouveau movie
series, which screens foreign and independent films. The Bama
Theatre hosts a Jewish Film Festival in the spring, as well as
several traveling film festivals. Additionally, the Bama Theatre
has recently been serving as a concert venue, hosting recent
performances by Joan
Baez, Aimee Mann,
the Drive-By
Truckers, Umphrey's Mcgee, Ryan Adams, Chuck Leavell and many other performing
artists.

Nightlife

A nightlife is offered by venues such as The Red Shed, Jupiter
Bar and Grill, Copper Top, The Houndstooth and Egans. During
football season the strip, an area of a few blocks on either side
of University Boulevard (toward downtown from campus) pulsates with
students, alumni, locals and visitors.

Eateries in Tuscaloosa range from the upscale Cypress Inn to a
shabby steak house, Nick's in the Sticks. Downtown offers Italian
cuisine at Venice Italian Fusion or Depalma's; biscuits and grits
are served at the Waysider, a landmark filled with Crimson Tide
paraphernalia, or across the river at Northport's City Cafe or
Northport Diner. Ribs are available at various locations, most
famously Dreamland There are numerous other
less-famous BBQ locations—including Archibald's, Woodrow's, and
Mike and Eds.

Events

Prior to each football game is a massive gathering at the UA
Quad, where people gather starting on Friday for tailgating and the
University of Alabama holds pep rallies on the Gorgas library
steps. The Quad has hosted ESPN's Gameday several times and also is
a place to meet Alabama football legends on game day and perform
the "Elephant Stomp" to Bryant-Denny Stadium with the Alabama
mascot "Big Al" and the Million Dollar Band.

On the first Thursday of each month, the Tuscaloosa art
galleries open their doors for "Art and Soul" — highlighting local
artists. There is a shuttle service that runs between this event
and Northport's "Art Night."

Parks and
Recreations

The Tuscaloosa County Parks and Reacreation Authority (a county
agency that receives a large amount of its funding from the city)
operates several parks and activity centers within the city.
Additional public recreational sites are owned and maintained by
the University of Alabama and federal agencies such as Corp of
Engineers.

The University of Alabama
Arboretum is located on 60 acres
(243,000 m2) of land at the intersection of
Veterans Memorial Parkway and Pelham Loop Road, adjacent to the VA
Hosptial. The arboretum's primary emphasis is on Alabama's native
flora and fauna. It includes 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of
walking trails through native piney woods and oak-hickory
climax forest, a wildflower garden containing more than 250
species, ornamental plants, an experimental garden, a bog garden, an open-air pavilion, and a
children's garden. Two greenhouses contain collections of orchids, cacti, and tropical plants.

Sports

Tuscaloosa is known for its collegiate athletics - particularly
the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football
team. The University of Alabama also currently fields
championship–caliber teams in baseball, men's basketball, women's
gymnastics, and women's softball. These teams play in athletics
facilities on the university campus, including Bryant-Denny Stadium (capacity of
92,000+), Coleman Coliseum (formerly Memorial
Coliseum), Sewell-Thomas Baseball Stadium, Alabama Softball Complex, and the Ol'
Colony Golf Complex.

Stillman College fields teams in football, men's and women's
basketball, baseball and softball, among other sports. In the past
decade, Stillman has gone through a renaissance of renovations,
including a new football stadium, Stillman Stadium.

Media

Tuscaloosa is part of the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston television market,
which is the 40th largest in the nation.[14] All
major networks have a presence in the market. WCFT 33 is the ABC affiliate, WIAT 42 is
the CBS affiliate, WBRC 6 is the Fox affiliate, WVTM 13 is the NBC affiliate,
WBIQ 10 is the PBS affiliate, WTTO 21 is the CW affiliate, and WABM 68 is the MyNetworkTV affiliate. Additionally, WVUA 7, an independent station,
is operated by the University of Alabama. The Tuscaloosa City
School system is home to a student television production program:
Bryant-Central-Northridge Television (BCN-TV)

Tuscaloosa is the 234th largest radio market in the nation.[15] In
January 2007, of the top-ten-rated radio stations, two were urban,
three were country, two were contemporary, and one each was gospel,
oldies, and talk radio.[16]

Tuscaloosa serves as home base to Alabama
Public Radio, the state's largest public radio network. APR's
main studios are housed at the University of Alabama, and the
flagship signal, WUAL-FM, originates from a transmitter
south of town. WUAL serves Tuscaloosa, portions of the Birmingham
metro area and several counties of west-central Alabama.

The Tuscaloosa News is the
major daily newspaper serving the city. The Tuscaloosa
News also publishes Tuscaloosa Magazine. Its offices
are located west of downtown on a bluff overlooking the Black
Warrior River. The Planet Weekly is an alternative weekly newspapers while The Crimson
White is the independent, student-run newspaper of the
University of Alabama. The prestigious literary magazine Black
Warrior Review was founded by graduate students of the
University's Creative Writing program in 1974, and is edited and
published by students in the English program. Several other smaller
magazines and newsletters are published and distributed locally,
such as Destination Tuscaloosa magazine.

Infrastructure

Health and
medicine

DCH Regional Medical Center is the main medical facility in
Tuscaloosa. Operated by the publicly-controlled DCH Healthcare
Authority, the 610-bed hospital opened in 1916 as the Druid City
Infirmary.[17] The
emergency department at DCH
operates a trauma
center (it is not certified as an official trauma center by the
American College of
Surgeons, however) that serves all of west central Alabama and is one of the
busiest in the state.[18] The
DCH Healthcare authority also operates Northport Medical Center in
neighboring Northport.

Other major medical centers in Tuscaloosa include the 702-bed Veterans
Affairs Medical Center-Tuscaloosa and the 422-bed Bryce
Hospital.

Transportation

University Boulevard (Alabama State Route 215) heading east through
Alberta City. Decades
ago, this was the main road to Birmingham.

Greyhound Bus Lines provides passenger bus
service to Tuscaloosa. Its station is located at 2520 Stillman Blvd
in downtown Tuscaloosa. The Tuscaloosa Transit
Authority operates the Tuscaloosa Trolley System. The
Tuscaloosa Trolley provides local public bus transportation with
four fixed routes that operate Monday through Friday from 5:00AM to
6:00PM. The trolley's paint job is an illusion; it is a El Dorado
Transmark RE bus, painted to look like a trolley.[19]

The Army Corps of
Engineers has maintained a system of locks and dams along the
Black Warrior River for over a century to allow navigability all
the way up to Birmingham. Barge traffic thus routinely runs through
Tuscaloosa to the Alabama State Docks at Mobile, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Via the Tenn-Tom
Waterway, the city is connected to the Ohio River valley and beyond.

Margaret Tutwiler, former resident
of Tuscaloosa, served in three presidential administrations, former
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Under Secretary for Public
Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the State Department

^
The Licensed Bed figures were taken from data from the Hospital Directory of the
Alabama Hospital Association. The DCH Health System website lists
the numbers of Licensed Beds at DCH Regional Medical Center to be
583.

College of Arts and Science •
Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration •
College of Communication and Information Sciences • College of
Education • College of Engineering • College of Human Environmental
Sciences • Capstone College of Nursing • School of Social Work • School of Law •
College of Community Health Sciences • College of Continuing
Studies